Family Tree

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=993548" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=150 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gloob"><U>The Gloob</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="short_stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories"><U><B>Stories</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="poems.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Poems"><U><B>Poems</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="children_s_stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Childrens Stories"><U><B>Children's Stories</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="sounding_board.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sounding Board"><U><B>Sounding Board</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_cats.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Cats"><U><B>The Cats</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_dogs.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Dogs"><U><B>The Dogs</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="memories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Memories"><U><B>Memories</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://15683.15.links4trade.com/links.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://15683.15.links4trade.com/links.ht"><U><B>Links</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Votes"><U><B>Votes</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Classics"><U><B>The Classics</b></U></A></div> <div> <B>Jack  Windsor Stories</b></div> <div> <A HREF="the_flight_of_the_swan.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Flight of the Swan"><U><B>The Flight of the Swan</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="swallow_close.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Swallow Close"><U><B>Swallow Close</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="a_twist_in_the_tail.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Twist in The Tail"><U><B>A Twist in The Tail</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_hairy_ghost.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Hairy Ghost"><U><B>The Hairy Ghost</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_letter_in_the_spare_room.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Letter in the Spare Room"><U><B>The Letter in the Spare Room</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_marmalade_eater.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Marmalade Eater"><U><B>The Marmalade Eater</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_rat_from_the_river.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Rat From The River"><U><B>The Rat From The River</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_wild_granny_hunt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Wild Granny Hunt"><U><B>The Wild Granny Hunt</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="thursday_s_visitor.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thursdays Visitor"><U><B>Thursday's Visitor</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_tenant_at_hannaford_cottage.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Tenant at Hannaford Cottage"><U><B>The Tenant at Hannaford Cottage</b></U></A></div> <div> <B>Family Tree</b></div> <div> <A HREF="the_masterpiece.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Masterpiece"><U><B>The Masterpiece</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="the_park.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Park"><U><B>The Park</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id189.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Hotel on the Moor"><U><B>The Hotel on the Moor</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id190.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="If I Won a Million"><U><B>If I Won a Million</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id191.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Broken Clock"><U><B>The Broken Clock</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id194.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Final Mission"><U><B>The Final Mission</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id194.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Final Mission"><U><B>The Final Mission</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id195.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living Statues"><U><B>Living Statues</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id196.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Nephew"><U><B>The Nephew</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B><U>Note From the Author</U></b></div> <bR> <div> The following story was written for and is dedicated to my Number One Fan in the USA, Joy Mies, whose cheerful encouragement helps me to get through the difficult writing days. I hope that she and all the other loyal Jack Windsor fans will enjoy 'Family Tree'.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Jack Windsor</div> <bR> <div> <B>Family Tree</b></div> <bR> <div> By</div> <div> Jack Windsor</div> <bR> <div> Joseph Paxton slowly stood up, gently stretching his muscles as he did so. Until recently he had thought that he was as fit as any man in his early thirties, that however was before he and Anne had taken over the old family house and garden. Before their arrival neither of them had ever worked so hard physically as they had done in the past few weeks.</div> <bR> <div> The old house had been in the possession of the Paxton family for nigh on a century and a half and for the last sixty years of that had been the home of Joseph's great-aunt Elizabeth.</div> <bR> <div> Now with Elizabeth gone and the arrival of a new generation, the time had come to modernise the property. Not that Joseph and Anne wished to change the character of the warm and friendly residence, but it would be nice they thought to have a modern bathroom and update the kitchen a little. The great cooking range might seem romantic to some but it was hardly practical for a wife who went out to work full time. Yet they were still in two minds as to what to do; they had no desire to make change just for the sake of change and besides, the local authority regulations would not permit them to devastate the character of the place.</div> <bR> <div> There was even more to do out here in the garden. For many years Joseph's great-aunt had tended the vast expanse of land with what some said was a loving gentleness. She had almost seemed to caress the very shrubs and flowers that she tended and without doubt the plants had responded to her ministrations, for almost everything she grew was bigger, brighter or healthier than that of any of the neighbouring gardeners. In recent years however the garden had become neglected and fallen into decline as the increasing frailty of her ageing body meant she was able to do less and less. The garden that had once been the pride of the area was, quite frankly, too big for an old lady to look after.</div> <bR> <div> Joseph dumped the tangle of weeds and undergrowth that he had pulled out into the wheelbarrow then stood looking around the inheritance that had come to him. In a way it had been an unexpected windfall, for he had thought Elizabeth Sharpness would leave the property to his cousin Norah. Norah however had died of cancer a couple of years ago and that had left Joseph as the only surviving relative. For Anne and Joseph, the gift would certainly change their lives. Their old house in the neighbouring county was up for sale and once that was disposed of and the remaining mortgage repaid, they would have a reasonable nest egg to invest.</div> <bR> <div> Yet it was a mixed blessing, for despite its charm the large house and garden would require a substantial amount of time and effort to keep clean and maintained. First however, came the alterations and the clearing up.</div> <bR> <div> He stared around him. Even in its overgrown state, the old garden retained much of its splendour and the weeds and creepers did little to hide the inherent beauty of the place. It had been designed and laid out with care and affection first by his great-aunt and her husband William and then, after William walked out on her, by Elizabeth herself. She had consistently refused to take on a gardener or even accept any help for what Joseph now realised was a very big task. Just caring for the garden through the changing seasons would keep him and Anne more than occupied. He shook his head as he thought how much work Elizabeth must have put into it over the years.</div> <bR> <div> It had always been fun to visit as a boy; a place of adventure with its hidden corners, the pond and those two great oak trees which he had loved to climb. Later as a young adult he was able to appreciate the attractiveness and subtlety of the old brick paths that wound their way around the beautiful flower beds; and there incongruously among the flowers was the apple tree that he remembered from all those years ago. </div> <bR> <div> Ah yes, the apple! Elizabeth had planted it a few days after William had left her - `in memory of the happy years', she said. She told everyone afterwards that she still loved her husband and called the apple her `Family Tree'.</div> <bR> <div> The disappearance of William Sharpness had been reported to the police but from the start they had taken the attitude that it was simply a case of a husband who had had enough of marriage and had left home. After all, one of the family suitcases had gone missing at the same time and he was not the first man to abandon his wife. So the file containing Elizabeth's statement gradually worked its way further and further back in the missing persons' cabinet until it settled behind all the others, forgotten in the quest to catch real criminals.</div> <bR> <div> Elizabeth had for a while seemed shocked and bemused by her husband's leaving but eventually, she just shrugged her shoulders and got on with the business of living her life.</div> <bR> <div> Joseph bent down, grasped the handles of the wheelbarrow and began the journey to the compost heap at the far end of the garden. As he passed the vegetable patch a wren scolded him from the fence. He shook his head in amusement at the amount of noise such a little bird was capable of making. In the short time since they had moved here, he already had learned much about the wildlife that frequented the garden and within a day or so of arriving, he had purchased a book of garden birds.</div> <bR> <div> Returning with the empty wheelbarrow, he looked up in time to see Anne emerging from the house with a glass in either hand. `Thought you might appreciate a glass of wine', she said, smiling broadly.</div> <bR> <div> `Perfect timing Darling.' Joseph tossed his gloves into the barrow and flopped down on the bench next to his wife. `How are you getting on with clearing up the house?'</div> <bR> <div> `That's why I have come out here', she replied. `I know that she was 87 and had lived here for a long time, but there is so much stuff in there that she could not have used in the last twenty or thirty years. I doubt if she ever threw anything away.'</div> <bR> <div> Joseph chuckled. `Yet it is so different out here. Apart from recently when she could no longer do much, it is obvious that not only did she spend a lot of time in the garden, but everything was done with a great deal of care and attention.'</div> <bR> <div> `The garden must have been very important to her then.'</div> <bR> <div> `It certainly seems that way.'</div> <bR> <div> `Will you have to change much out here?' asked Anne.</div> <bR> <div> `No once it is tidied up, it is so well designed it will just be a case of keeping it under control.' Then, after letting his eyes wander along the winding paths, he added, `Mind you that will be a full time job in itself.' He paused, `Perhaps one or two shrubs that have had their day will have to come out and unfortunately the old apple tree is way past its best and is likely to come down in the next storm.'</div> <bR> <div> `It would be a shame if it destroyed that beautiful flower bed.'</div> <bR> <div> `It certainly would,' agreed Joseph, `and the way it would fall it probably would damage the fence. I think I might cut it down later.'</div> <bR> <div> `Then we could use the logs in the fire during the winter,' said Anne.</div> <bR> <div> `OK, I'll do it after lunch then.'</div> <bR> <div> The old grandfather clock in the hall had just marked four o'clock and the echo of the sonorous chimes still flowed through the house when one of the great coincidences of life occurred.</div> <bR> <div> In the flowerbed, Joseph thrust his spade into the soil intending to expose the roots of the apple tree. He had lopped off the branches and reduced the trunk to a stump. Now he hoped that he would be able to remove the roots and thus complete the job in one attempt. He felt a jarring pain run up his arm as the spade struck something hard.</div> <bR> <div> At exactly the same moment, Anne was in the process of unfolding a letter she had found in great-aunt Elizabeth's sideboard. It was dated Saturday 28<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> July.</div> <bR> <div> `Why, that's today!' she exclaimed. Then looking at the heading realised that the letter had been written in 1951, fifty years ago. Yet it was the same date and the same day of the week that she had found it. She read on.</div> <bR> <div> The letter was addressed to Elizabeth from her husband William but it was unsigned. In it he told his wife that he planned to leave her and set up home with another woman. Anne read it through again and then took it out into the garden to show Joseph.</div> <bR> <div> She found him on his knees with a trowel in his hand carefully scooping soil from a hole he had excavated around the roots of the tree. He heard her approach and looked up. They both spoke at the same moment.</div> <bR> <div> `You'll never believe what I have found!'</div> <bR> <div> Joseph was only half listening as Anne thrust the letter toward him and said, `Look at this, Elizabeth's husband walked out on her in 1951!'</div> <bR> <div> Suddenly the words that she had spoken registered in his brain. He shook his head slowly and replied, `I don't think he did.'</div> <bR> <div> `But this letter is from him and in it he tells her that he is going off with someone else.'</div> <bR> <div> Joseph stood up and said, `And in this hole there are lots of bones and from the size of them, they are probably human, besides which there are remnants of clothing there too.'</div> <bR> <div> Anne Paxton leaned against the fence for support. `I don't understand.'</div> <bR> <div> Joseph looked hard at his wife and replied, `Don't you see? If Elizabeth planted the tree, she must have known the bones,' he paused, `or the body was there when she planted it!'</div> <bR> <div> `What shall we do?'</div> <bR> <div> `We have to call the police.'</div> <bR> <div> A week later Joseph and Anne sat quietly in the garden and tried to imagine the dramatic events of fifty years before.</div> <bR> <div> The police had confirmed that the remains were indeed human and that of an adult male who had suffered a severe blow to the back of his head that had shattered his skull. Under the bones they had discovered a suitcase containing clothing and personal effects of one William Sharpness. Also in the suitcase were a hammer and a note in Elizabeth's handwriting. The note simply said, `You are forever mine!'</div> <bR> <div> Joseph walked over to the flowerbed, which had been almost completely trampled down by the many police and forensic experts who had invaded the garden for three days. `No wonder,' he said, `she didn't want a gardener, for if she had had one he might have discovered her dreadful secret.'</div> <bR> <div> Anne nodded, `That must be why she called the old apple, her Family Tree.'</div> <bR> <div> If you enjoyed reading this story, you may be interested to know that Jack Windsor has published an anthology of 40 of his stories. It is called 'Secret of the Lake'. Published by Braiswick you can order it from your local bookstore or buy online from Amazon.com</div> <bR> <div> We shall be delighted if you visit our sister site at <A HREF="http://thegloob.tripod.com/wickfordtn" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://thegloob.tripod.com/wickfordtn"><U>Wickford and District Talking Newspaper for the the Blind</U></A> and see what those dedicated charity workers are doing.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="family_tree_m.htm" TITLE="Family Tree"><U><B>Back to Top</b></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>